HIST 1000 : INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY & CIVILIZATION KIRKHS, IIUM

1. WORLD HISTORY FROM AN ISLAMIC
PERSPECTIVE: THE EXPERIENCE OF IIUM
AHMED IBRAHIM ABUSHOUK,
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND CIVILIZATION, IIUM
Date : 14th March 2007 (WEDNESDAY)
Time : 14:15- 16:15 PM.
Venue : PS. XVII, Meeting Room 2, UKM
International Conference
on
Social Sciences and Humanities
“Innovating Approaches Looking Beyond Conventionalities”

2. DO WE NEED AN ISLAMIC THEORY AND
METHEDOLOGY OF HISTORY?
CREATION
OF MAN
REVEALED TEXT
PERIODIZATION
OF WORLD
HISTORY

3. PERIODIZATION OF WORLD HISTORY
The Traditional Western Scheme of history
Western European
Christian
Europeanized
World
Ancient
Medieval
Modern
Greco-RomanJudaic

4. PERIODIZATION OF WORLD HISTORY
The Reformed Western Scheme of history
Western European
Christian
Europeanized
World
Ancient
Medieval
Modern
Greco-RomanJudaic
Indian Byzantine Russian
Chinese Muslim

5. PERIODIZATION OF WORLD HISTORY
The Traditional Muslim Scheme of history
Prophethood
Of Muhammad
Muslim
JudaicPersianArabian
Muslim world

6. A MODERN UNIFIED WORLD
EUROPEAN NEAR
EAST
AFRICAN INDIAN FAR EASTERN AMERICAN
w.
EROPEAN RUSSIAN
ISLAMIC
NEAR
EAST
MUSLIM
AFRICAN
NON-
MUSLIM
AFRIFCAN
MUSLIM
INIDAN
HINDU
INDIAN
MUSLIM
SEA
CHINESE JAPNAESE MEXICO
PERU
ETC.
Americans
Sinic
Hwang Ho
Valley
Indic
SEA
Indus
Valley
Indic
Hindu
Nubian
S. Arabian
Ethiopian
African
Sumerian
Egyptian
Aramaic
Persian
Christian
Muslim
Judaic
Greek
Roman
East Roman
Latin Western

7. CREATION OF MAN
Darwinist Paradigm
Tawhidic Paradig
“Unity of God,
creation, humanity”
Creation of Adam
Human Society
Evolution of Man
Human Society
Prophethood
Civilized
Polytheism
Prophethood
Hereafter
Polytheism
Primitive
Prophethood
Modernity
Post Modernity

8. MOVEMENT OF HISTORY
Tawhidic Paradigm
Darwinist Paradigm
End of history
and the last man
Prophethood
Man

9. REVEALED TEXT
TRIPARTITE DIMENSIONS OF HISTORICAL EVENT
Revealed Dimension
Human DimensionNatural Dimension

10. ISLAMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE:
THEORY AND PRACTICES
 The First World Conference on Muslim
Education, Makkah 1977.
 International Institute of Islamic Thought
(USA), 1981.
 International Islamic University Malaysia,
1983.

11. ISLAMIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE:
THEORY AND PRACTICES
 The presupposition that the body of secular
knowledge in the West is neither as neutral nor
as universal as some of its proponents claim it to
be.
 The social sciences taught at Muslim
universities are the products of this secular
knowledge, and their methodologies, concepts,
and explanations of human behaviour and
outlook on life and the universe which are not in
harmony with the fundamental teachings of Islam

12. The universeThe universe
SocietySociety ManMan
GodGod
Re-
Orientation
of
Social
sciences
Re-
Orientation
of
Social
sciences
ISLAMIC
WORLDVIEW
ISLAMIC
WORLDVIEW
PROSPECTS OF HUMAN SCIENCE RESEARCH

13. ISLAMIZATION OF HUMAN SCIENCES
Revealed knowledge
Social sciences
Theoretical Framework
Research projects
&
Professional practice
field demonstration

14. THREE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF ISLAMIZATION
PROCESS
The mastery of Islamic legacy, a critical
assessment of Islamic scholarship
Against pristine Revealational perspective,
the current needs of the Ummah, and
Modern in human knowledge
The mastery of Islamic legacy, a critical
assessment of Islamic scholarship
Against pristine Revealational perspective,
the current needs of the Ummah, and
Modern in human knowledge
The creative synthesis of Islamic legacy and modern
Knowledge, the creative leap to bridge over the gap
of centuries of non-development
The creative synthesis of Islamic legacy and modern
Knowledge, the creative leap to bridge over the gap
of centuries of non-development
The mastery of modern disciplines,
a critical assessment of their
methodologies, research findings, and
theories in the light
of Islamic worldview
The mastery of modern disciplines,
a critical assessment of their
methodologies, research findings, and
theories in the light
of Islamic worldview

15. KULLIYYAH OF ISLAMIC REVEALED KNOWLEDGE AND
HUMAN SCIENCES
KIRKHS
(1990)
Human Sciences
Division
Islamic Revealed
Knowledge
Division
English Language
& Linguistics
Communication
History & Civilization
Political Science
Psychology
Arabic Language
and Literature
Fiqh and Usul Fiqh
General Studies
Quran & Sunna Studies
Usul al-Din &
Comparative Religion Sociology &
Anthropology
Departments

16. IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS
Islamic Interpretation of History
• Abdul Hameed Siddiqi, “The Islamic Concept of History”:
criticizes the Western concept of history which has completely eliminated
revelation as a source of knowledge, thereby reducing it into the level of
mere fiction and myth.
• Syed Ali Ashraf, “The Quranic Concept of History”,
Argues that Adam was the first man on the earth and “a completely new
creation endowed with spiritual knowledge and blessed with the duty of a
Prophet for his children.” It rejects the traditional Western concept that
perceives the history of human beings from a gradual evolutionary
perspective that had developed from primitiveness to modernity.
• Imad al-Din al-Khalil, Islamic Interpretation of History.
Perceives the Holy Quran as a Divine Verdict on world history, where
historians could find a number of laws that govern the rise and fall of
nations and civilizations.

17. SINGLE MAJOR
Bachelor of Human Sciences
(History & Civilization)
No Course content Credit Hours Number of courses
1. Fundamental Content
(introduction to human sciences)
12 4
2. Generic Skills
(Language and Co-curricular activities)
13 18
3. History and civilization core courses 72 24
4. Elective
(6 Islamic Revealed Knowledge courses
and 2 other courses from any
department of IRKHS or other
Kulliyyah which are listed as minor
courses)
24 8
Total 121 54

18. CONCLUDING REMARKS
 I share the standpoint of the engagement based on the
setting up of a creative synthesis of the Islamic legacy
and Western knowledge.
 This standpoint may contribute to the development of a
pluralist approach to the teaching and learning of world
history.
 Such an approach may release historians from the
prevalent influence of the one-sided Western
interpretation of history that denies the authority of
revelation as a source of knowledge, and marginalizes
the internal mechanisms governing the rise and fall of
non-Western civilizations.